UN Secretary General affirms blocking of aid trucks in Gaza beyond Egyptian borders

CAIRO – 24 March 2024: In a joint press conference with Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shokry Sunday, Secretary General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres stated that “outside the borders, there are blocked aid trucks.”

The UN secretary general pointed out that his visit to Egypt during Ramadan was an expression of solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. He added that he was fasting and would have Iftar with members of the Sudanese community in Cairo.

Guterres said that after his visit to Egypt’s Rafah Border Crossing, he renewed his call for a ceasefire and sufficient delivery of aid to Gaza. “More crossings and access points are needed to deliver aid...A humanitarian ceasefire is urgently needed...What’s happening in Gaza is challenging our values of humanity,” the international official stated.

Guterres underscored that the United Nations would continue to support Palestinians. As for allegations of Hamas infiltration of UNRWA, he said that that investigations would be carried out to ensure alignment with UN values.

In the same context, Minister Shokry stressed Egypt’s rejection to the collective punishment of Palestinians as well as displacement attempts. He also blamed certain international parties for not backing a ceasefire in Gaza saying that behavior reflected double standards.

The minister of foreign affairs clarified that Egypt’s vison on post-war Gaza was restoring the rule of the Palestinian Authority of the Strip as a first step in the pathway of negotiations that would lead up to the two-state solution, which consists of establishing a Palestinian state on the borders of June 4, 1967, having as capital Eastern Jerusalem.

The minister equally showcased that there was proximity in the visions of Egypt and the United States on the Palestinian Cause, highlighting that the war had incurred 32,000 deaths and 70,000 injuries approximately among Palestinians.

On another level, the UN secretary general stressed that "the war is Gaza should not distract us from what is happening in Sudan…I was moved by listening to their heartbreaking stories.”

In that framework, Guterres thanked Egypt for receiving almost 500,000 Sudanese since the outbreak of the civil war in April 2023 in addition to the five million that had already been living in the country.